Æthelred II "the Unready"

King of England, 978×9-1013, 1014-1016.

As a boy of about ten years, Æthelred II
became king upon the murder of his half-brother Eadweard
"the Martyr". Some sources date this in 978 [ASC(A,C)
s.a. 978; John Worc., s.a. 978 (1: 145); Lib. Vit. Hyde, 276],
while others date it in 979 [ASC(D,E,F) s.a. 979; Wm. Malmes., Gesta
Regum, c. 164 (1: 185: Æthelred's accession)]. This further
complicated by the fact that it is not clear whether Æthelred's
coronation was in the same year as Eadweard's death or in the
following year. ASC(C) lists the coronation under both 978 and
979, and it has been variously listed as occurring in 978
[ASC(C); John Worc., s.a. 978 (1: 145-6)], 979 [ASC(C,D,E)], or
980 [ADSC(F)] [see Plummer's note, ASC 2: 166]. King lists give
Eadweard a reign of either three years, which would support 978
for Eadweard's death if we assume rounding up [Dumville (1986),
31], or ".iiii. gear butan .xvi. wucan" (4
years minus 16 weeks [Lists S,T]) or 3 years, 8 months [List R],
which would support 979 [Dumville (1986), 29; cf. "Edgaro
post xvi. annos regni successit Edwardus filius tribus annis et
dimidio." Wm. Malmes., Gesta Pont., c. 256 (p.
408)]. Opinions have varied. Keynes has argued for the death of
Eadweard and accession of Æthelred in 978 and the coronation of
Æthelred on 4 May 979 [Keynes (1980), 233, n. 7]. Dumville has
recently argued for 979 as the date of Eadweard's murder
[Williams (2003), 164 (n. 76); Dumville (2007), which I have not
seen]. In 1013, Æthelred was driven from the kingdom by king
Sweyn (Svend) of Denmark [ASC(E) s.a. 1013; John Worc., s.a. 1013
(1: 167-8); Wm. Malmes., Gesta Regum, c. 177 (1:
207ff.); GND v, 7 (1: 16-19)]. However, Sweyn died early the next
year, and Æthelred was restored as king [ASC(E) s.a. 1014; John
Worc., s.a. 1014 (1: 168ff.); Wm. Malmes., Gesta Regum,
c. 179 (1: 212); GND v, 8 (1: 18-21)]. Æthelred's last two years
as king were spent in a struggle with Sweyn's son Cnut. When
Æthelred died in London on 23 April 1016 [see below], he held
little more than London and the surrounding area.

Date of birth: ca. 968.
Place of birth: Unknown.William of Malmesbury states that
he was ten years old at the death of his brother Eadweard [Wm.
Malmes, Gesta Regum, c. 164 (1: 185)].

By an earlier wife
(Ælfgifu?):The following children are listed as children of
an earlier marriage either because they appear in charters before
the marriage of Æthelred and Emma in 1002 (in the case of the
sons) or because they appear as married at an early enough date
that they could not be daughters of Emma (in the case of the
daughters). The order of the sons can be inferred with high
probability from the order in which they appear in charters
(which, as noted above, is not always the same). The order of the
daughters is completely unknown. As noted above, there is
insufficient evidence to determine whether all of these children
had the same mother.

Æthelstan, living 1012, d. 1012×6.Æthelstan is called the eldest son in a
charter dated 1004, and consistently appears first among the sons
["Ego Æðelstan regalium primogenitus filiorum"
Codex Dip. Sax. 3: 330 (#709)]. He appears in two charters in
1012 [ibid., 3: 359 (#720); 6: 165 (#1307)], but does not appear
in a charter of 1014 which was witnessed by four of his brothers
[ibid., 6: 169 (#1309)]. The will of the ætheling Æthelstan has
usually been dated 1015, although Barlow has argued for a date as
early as 1012 [Codex Dipl. Sax. 3: 361-4 (#722); Thorpe (1865),
557-562 (with modern English translation); Sawyer (1968), 420-1
(#1503); Barlow (1970), 30, n. 3]. Among others for whom no
relationship is stated, the will mentions his father king
Æðelred, his brothers Eadmund and Eadwig, and states that his
bequests to the church are for the souls of his father and
himself and his grandmother Ælfðryð who reared him. No wife or
children are mentioned. The date of Æthelstan's death is made
confusing by the contemporary, but somewhat confused, account of
Thietmar of Merseburg, which would suggest that he was still
alive in 1016 after his younger brother Eadmund had already
become king [see Freeman (1870-9), 1: 698-701].

Ecgbeorht, living 1005, prob. d. bef.
1007.Ecgbeorht appears in a charter dated 1005
[Codex Dip. Sax. 6: 153 (#1301)], but does not appear in a
charter of 1007 signed by several of his brothers [ibid., 6: 156
(#1303)].

Eadred, living 1012, prob. d. bef.
1014.He appears in two charters in 1012 [Codex
Dip. Sax. 3: 359 (#720); 6: 165 (#1307)], but does not appear in
a charter of 1014 which was witnessed by four of his brothers
[ibid., 6: 169 (#1309)].

Eadgar, living 1008, prob. d. soon
after.Eadgar appears in a charter dated 1008
[Codex Dipl. Sax. 6: 162 (#1305)], and is absent from a charter
signed by three of his brothers in 1009 [ibid., 6: 163 (#1306)].

Uncertain whether by
Emma or an earlier marriage:There does not seem to be any good
evidence which marriage produced the following daughter.
Chronologically, she could be a daughter either of Emma or an
earlier marriage.

NN, abbess of Wherwell.In 1051, when earl Godwine and his sons
were outlawed by king Eadweard "the Confessor", the
king put his wife Eadgyth under the keeping of the abbess of
Wherwell, whose name is not given [ASC(D) s.a. 1052=1051; John
Worc., s.a. 1051 (1: 207)]. The Peterborough manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle and William of Malmesbury state that the queen was
committed to the king's sister at Wherwell ["... &
betæhte hy his swyster to Hwerwillon." ASC(E) s.a.
1048=1051 ("and committed her to his sister at Wherwell"
ASC(Eng), 176); "... ipsa regis sorori apud Warewellam
in custodiam data, ..." Wm. Malmes., Gesta Regum,
c. 199 (1: 243)].

Commentary

Supposed son by first
marriage (probably a mistake):

Eadweard (another son of that name),
fl. 1002, d. bef. ca. 1004.There is a charter with a date of 984,
labelled as doubtful by Kemble, in which Æthelred is given two
sons named Eadweard ["Ego Æðelstan huic donationi
consensi. Ego Eadgar clito consensi. Ego Eadmund frater praedicti
clitonis adiuui. Ego Eadweard clito faui. Ego Eadward filius
regis libens annui. Ego Eadwig frater clitonum annotaui."
Codex Dipl. Sax. 3: 204 (#643)]. Stevenson called the charter
spurious and Finberg called it genuine, but dated to 1006×9
[Sawyer (1968), 265 (#854)]. Another charter listed as doubtful
by Kemble with a date of 990 also has a son named Eadweard
["Ego Æðelstan clito. Ego Ecbyrht clito. Ego Eadmund
clito. Eadred clito. Ego Eadwig clito. Ego Eadgar clito. Ego
Eadward clito." Codex Dipl. Sax. 3: 250 (#672); not
listed by Sawyer (1968)]. More important is an apparently genuine
charter dated 1002 which lists a son Eadweard ["Ego
Æðelstanus filius regis. Ego Ecbyrhtus filius regis. Ego
Eadmundus filius regis. Ego Eadweardus filius regis. Ego Eadwius
filius regis. Ego Eadgarus filius regis." Codex Dipl.
Sax. 6: 146 (#1297)]. It has been argued that this son Eadweard
could not be Eadweard the Confessor, and that Æthelred therefore
also had an earlier son named Eadweard who died young [Freeman
(1870-9), 1: 686-7; Searle (1899), 350]. While it might also be
argued that this last charter shows Eadweard the Confessor
"witnessing" a charter as a newborn infant, it seems
more likely that the name "Eadred" was miscopied as
"Eadweard" at some point (the charter exists only in
thirteenth century copies [Sawyer (1968), 275 (#900)]), since
"Eadweard" here appears in the list between Eadmund and
Eadwig, the position usually occupied by Eadred. Thus, there
seems to be no good reason to place Æthelred with a son named
Eadweard by an earlier marriage.

Supposed relative of
son Eadweard: Odda,
d. 31 August 1056, earl of Devon.He is stated by William of Malmesbury to
have been a cognatus of the king (Eadweard the
Confessor) ["... Odo et Radulfus comites et regis
cognati." Wm. Malmes., Gesta Regum, c. 199 (1:
243)]. It is unclear whether Odda was a relative of Eadweard's
mother Emma or of Æthelred's mother. Thus, it is difficult to
use the statement about Odda's relationship as a clue for further
research [For more on Odda, see Freeman 2: 415, 580ff; Searle
(1899), 443 (#62)].

Bibliography

ASC = Charles Plummer, Two of the Saxon
Chronicles parallel, based on the earlier edition by John
Earle, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1892-9). ASC(A) indicates the
"A" manuscript of the chronicle, and similarly for the
other manuscripts.